Rappers are people too!

Rappers, like other celebrities, are treated as if they are the public’s object rather then individuals with personal lives. We often are quick to judge them and hold them to incredibly high standards. We also often jump to conclusions based off snippets of their words and actions without ever really knowing the true picture. People are misquoted daily by the press in order to attract more media attention. A recent example of this is TMZ’s misreporting of a quarrel between Travis Scott and Frank Ocean.

TMZ reportes how Ocean was suing Scott because of a conflict about the inclusion of their song “Carousel” on Travis Scott’s recent album “Astroworld.” The details were unclear but it was alluded that it was an LGBT issue and a production miscommunication. Ocean quickly shut this down on his tumblr where he noted his views on the issue and his “beef” with Travis was quickly squashed.

This is just a small example of how the press twists things and takes things out of context in order to get clicks. Although there was no substance to their claim, TMZ caused this information to be spread on multiple outlets with more nonsense information that was just made up by the reporter in order to gain traction. If this were done to someone who was not famous and wealthy, people would be less likely to stand for it and call out these actions out but rappers do not have this luxury.

Mac Miller’s death has highlighted this significantly as both he and his ex-girlfriend Ariana Grande have been receiving non-stop hate online for their actions. Which is nonsensical, as the public really has no clue what happens between individuals, just as I have no clue about my classmate’s, teachers, and even friends personal life. Miller, deceased, has gotten a slew of comments blaming him for his death and talking down about him because of his alleged drug addiction which again is just an assumption of the public, while his ex, grande, has also gotten hate and blame for Miller’s death. This is especially terrible for her as she has to suffer the death of a loved one and then go online to see people blaming her for this death. It is also not given the proper response since she is a celebrity. Had she been a regular person and had this comments made towards her, it would simply not be stood for, yet in certain circles this behavior towards her is encouraged.

People often wish for fame but neglect to think about what comes with it. The public can be a great thing but it can also be utterly disgusting at times.